Title: Rumor Has It
Rating: K
Summary: The grapevine of Konoha never stops and this time there's a gossip that doesn't seem to die out.
Warnings: Cursing, nosey people
A/N: This was my entry for last year's Winter Challenge KakaIru_Fest at LJ. It was a bit of a challenge that year but all in all I'm quite pleased with myself.

- Nokkonen

"I heard that Umino Iruka has a lover."

"Who?"

"Umino Iruka."

"Yeah yeah, but who?"

"Umino. Iruka. You know, that temperamental chuunin from Academy, the one with long dark brown hair and nose scar. That Umino Iruka"

"I know Iruka-sensei, the man's a legend in the Mission Room, but who is his lover?"

"Oh."

"Oh, what? You don't know it, do you?"

"…"

"Right. I've got a two day mission; hopefully you'll actually know something when I come back."

"Water you plants?"

"Thanks. See you in few days."

Kakashi leant against the wall, looking like the epitome of laziness with his ankles crossed, back slouched and book in hand. The door to the Mission Room next to him opened and closed, earning him an occasional odd look from the ninja coming and going as Kakashi continued to stand there for quite some time. The sounds of papers and stamping and the small talk were good background noise for reading and slowly the buzz started to quiet down as the clock ticked the end of the day. Kakashi had almost read through his beloved second volume of the Icha Icha trilogy, when the door opened and somebody peered out.

"How long have you been here?" the man asked, amusement flickering in his eyes.

"Not that long," Kakashi shrugged, pocketing the book as he pushed himself from the wall, "are you finished?"

"In a minute," Iruka grinned, leaning quickly back inside. "Can you manage things without me?" he asked Izumo, who rolled his eye pointedly.

"I've been doing this job longer than you, Iruka-sensei," the older chuunin informed with a mock-growl, "just go already, and don't keep the wife waiting any longer."

Iruka laughed despite the faint blush coloring his face and Kakashi rounded the smaller man to give a dry look at Izumo, who almost cared – after being in the receiving end of various glares from Sandaime to Ibiki and, as of lately, Tsunade-sama, a miffed Copy Nin was a piece of cake. They exited building, entering the cool night air and wandering through the streets while talking about what to eat.

"There's some maze gohan, but since certain someone doesn't like it – "

The other man did nothing to hide the disgusted snort, which only made Kakashi grin wider underneath the mask.

" – it's either your place or take out."

"Take out it is," Iruka crowed, delighted. He immediately took the route towards Ichiraku, clearly deciding for both of them what they were going to eat tonight.

Kakashi, not really bothered by this, ambled after the Academy sensei, catching up to him soon enough. "Want to watch some movies tonight?" he asked as they passed a mixed group of jounins and chuunins, some of them waving cheerily at Iruka, "I've got the newest Princess Gale movie from Fujikaze Yukie."

"Sure, after dealing a whole day with immature and foul-tempered brats that call themselves adults, I'm in the mood for some over-dramatic scenes and crappy dialogue," Iruka grinned as he waved back at the group.

"Then this one should fill your needs just perfectly," Kakashi informed suggestively, dropping his voice just a tad bit lower than normally.

"Well, I'm glad you know how to… quell my urges," Iruka was quick to counter, mischievous eyes gleaming in the street lights.

"Maa, lucky for you I'm quite familiar with your cravings," Kakashi smirked and winked his eye.

Iruka glared at the silver-haired man half-heartedly. "I'm not some pregnant woman, Kakashi."

"No, but if you were, you would make beautiful babies."

They both knew just how wrong this could sound if somebody heard them, but it was quite fun to come up with corny and plain weird pick up lines and see which one came up with the worst one. So far it was a tie between "I'm like quick drying cement: after I've been laid it doesn't take me long to get hard" and "baby, I'm your special ramen with extra toppings".

It was still quite a wonder how good friends they had become during these past few months despite the somewhat rocky beginning with Iruka questioning Kakashi's leadership skills and authority. Not that they hadn't met each other before; with Iruka working in the Mission Room and Kakashi being a regular sight there but it was after the chuunin had made a complete fool of himself they had really started to talk to each other.

The fact that Kakashi wasn't the type to hold grudges helped, too.

"Are you going to order miso ramen again?" Iruka teased when they reached the little restaurant, Teuchi's greetings earning a polite answer from both of them.

"Am I really that unpredictable?" Kakashi shrugged as he settled on the stool with more grace that you would have guessed from his outward appearance.

"Look underneath the underneath and be shocked when there's actually nothing to be found."

The teasing and friendly snarking continued all the way to the older man's apartment, where it promptly turned into one man comment track once the movie started. Iruka, as Kakashi had been amused to learn, loved to comment and point out all kinds of details that made no sense in his mind. At first the dark-haired man had tried politely to keep his mouth shut but after watching some crappy action movie about some kind of secret agency –

("The director has to be a moron, there's no way you can survive from a blast like that without a scratch! I know that!")

– the cat was out of the bag. Not that it really bothered Kakashi, because it was quite hilarious to listen to Iruka dissect the dialogue, acting and just about everything with his sharp tongue. The jounin was half-afraid to find out what Iruka would say about Icha Icha Violence: The Movie, so he kept that piece of art out of the other man's reach with all his might.

After all, some things were sacred.

"Seven colored chakra? Where do they get these?" Iruka snorted into his beer, "have these people even seen chakra in real life?"

"Maa, not all of us have the privilege to torture the future generations with what you call teaching," Kakashi hummed from his spot from the floor, legs folded neatly underneath him, "besides it's meant to look and sound cool."

"Shouldn't you know all about that then?" Iruka murmured, rolling his eyes when the Princess Gale once again galloped into the battle with no armor whatsoever, "at least Gai-sensei seems to think so."

The visible eye arched and the mask stretched as Kakashi smiled widely as he looked at the other over his shoulder. "Are you implying that Gai's a liar? That I'm a dull person? I never knew you were such a cruel man, Iruka, you hurt my feelings."

Iruka didn't bother to answer that, snorting once again before starting to rave about the horrible, horrible mimicry the so called martial art master had just dared to call taijutsu, making Kakashi shake with stifled laughter.

"You look tired."

"No shit. Urgh, my neighbor kept me awake – again!"

"Isn't your neighbor a jounin? You are one crazy lot, so shouldn't you already be used to it?"

"Oi, who are you calling crazy?"

"You."

"I'm a tokubetsu jounin, there's a difference!"

"Aren't you cranky today? Why don't you go and inform Mitarashi-san that she keeps you from getting enough beauty sleep while entertaining her nightly visitors?"

"It's not her, it's Hatake-san! That is kind off weird, since usually I don't even know if the man's there but lately there's been a lot of activity in his apartment."

"What kind of activity?"

"I don't know, I just live there! All I can say that I can hear thumping, laughing and an occasional shout. And I've seen this chuunin hanging around there a lot. He's kind of cute actually."

"Another man, eh? You don't think…?"

"What? That Mitarashi-san and now even Hatake-san have more sex life than me? And no, I don't know who the hell has turned my favorite silent-as-a-corpse neighbor in to a social butterfly and keeps me from getting enough sleep!"

"You're really, really cranky today. Crazy jounins."

"I'm a tokubetsu jounin!"

"Look, look! There they are again!"

"Hey, don't jump on me like that, I could have hit you."

"Quit whining, the day you can hit me is the day I'll retire and start growing bonsai."

"… You know, Anko, I can't even begin to explain why the idea of you nurturing plants creeps the hell out of me. Now was there a reason for you to mentally scar me?"

"You are so adorable. Now, turn slowly and look just who two are sharing the booth on the right corner. That's right, it's Iruka and Kakashi."

"And?"

"And? And? Can you tell when was the last time either one of them has been seen alone? Not counting when Kakashi's on a mission. Only once. Once! That was four weeks, three days and two hours ago."

"Do I dare to ask why you know this?"

"I have my ways."

"So what? They are friends. It's actually nice to know Kakashi's got someone sane enough to spent time, it isn't healthy to spend that much time at Memorial."

"Oh, I think they are more than friends. Iruka's been spend awfully lot of time in Hatake's apartment and vice-versa. There's two toothbrushes, two sets of razors and Iruka has some extra clothing at his place."

"How do you – no, wait! Forget that, I don't want to know!"

"Smart boy."

"So… Kakashi and Iruka?"

"Uh huh. … Hey, do you think they'd like threesome?"

"Anko!"

Iruka felt very satisfied as he watched the neat lines of his students as they practiced with in the target range. They had developed fast and some held promise of talent as he moved around the children, correcting poses and preventing a possible scuffle with a withering glare. Iruka also noted with a hint of approval that most of the students managed to hit the targets, even those who had had the most problems in the beginning of the fall.

This year's class might offer some serious competition against Konoha 9, Iruka entertained himself with the thought. There hasn't been any class to top them, but then again there would be no challenge either.

"Iruka-sensei."

The pony-tailed man turned to see approaching Fumiko-sensei, who was in charge of the younger class right across the hallway. "Fumiko-sensei, what can I do for you?" Iruka asked with a smile and while he turned towards the woman, though, everybody from the children to Fumiko-sensei and Iruka knew both of the adults' attentions were mostly upon the bunch of weapon wielding pre-genin.

"Some of us from the staff are going out tonight and I was – we were wondering, if you might want to come along?"

There was a hopeful look in her eyes as the woman clearly wished Iruka to say yes. It almost made him feel bad but they already had plans for the evening. "That would be nice but," he rushed to explain when Fumiko's face first lit up and then darkened when Iruka continued, "we are having a small dinner tonight with friends."

Disappointed, she nodded before a look of confusion took over. "We?" she repeated, sounding quite perplexed and it made Iruka halt, blushing as he also realized himself just what he had said.

"No no, I don't mean 'we' like that – it's just Kakashi-san and I are inviting some friends over to my place – I mean, I'm inviting, not him, since my apartment is bigger and it's been quite some time since we've gathered together and Kakashi-san – "

Iruka knew he was rambling, sounding more nervous by each second, which did absolutely nothing to disperse that look of suspicion from Fumiko-sensei. Luckily, Iruka was saved by the bell, literally, as the Academy's bell rang loudly to inform the end of another school day. Both of the adults startled slightly when the horde of cheering students rushed to return the weaponry back to their boxes and joined the masses escaping through the gates, leaving only a cloud of dust behind.

They stood frozen on the spot for some time, until Iruka gathered his wits and coughed. "I need to start cleaning things up, so if you excuse me, Fumiko-sensei," he said as politely as possible, feeling the remnants of the blush heat his cheeks.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'd help you but I need to do some grading…," the woman trailed off uncertainly.

"Of course," Iruka smiled a bit forcefully, "have a nice evening and please send my regards to everyone."

"I will, thank you. And, um, have a nice evening?"

"We will."

They both stopped, with Fumiko-sensei's eyes widening and Iruka inwardly cursing.

"You said that? Twice?" Asuma's astounded words were nearly drowned under Kotetsu's loud laughter, the look of shock adorning his bearded face.

"That has to be one of the funniest things I've heard in my whole life," the more carefree one of Tsunade's personal gophers, as Kotetsu had dubbed himself and Izumo, declared, wiping tears from his eyes.

Iruka glared sullenly at them, not pleased by the reaction his little mix up received. "I'm glad that I live to entertain you, Kotetsu," he said icily, scowling harder when Kakashi's rumbling chuckle carried into their ears.

"Maa, you have to admit, Iruka, that it was quite amusing accident", he drawled from the kitchen where Kakashi had been searching for who knows what.

There was a snort from Genma, who was leaning against the table with his elbow, drawing the attention of the piercing stare. The tokubetsu jounin, wearing a hunter green bandanna instead of the hitai-ate, smirked back. "Don't look at me like that, Iruka," Genma hummed, "I'm not the one who suddenly informed his poor colleague having a relationship."

"That, or having a habit of talking about himself in third person," Izumo murmured from his chair, fingers resting on the neck of the beer bottle so that no one made the mistake of mixing it up with the rest of the bottles on the table. Everybody knew that and made no comment.

Grumbling, Iruka placed the snacks he had fetched on the table with more force than necessary before turning on his heel and stomping to the kitchen to make sure Kakashi didn't find the special sake the dark-haired man just knew he had been searching for. Asuma shook his head, listening to the banter that started between the two men in the kitchen, glancing at the fourth man on the table that was sitting next to large jounin. With a start Asuma noticed the calculating gleam in the black eyes.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, wary as a small grin quirked on the other's lips and they both watched how Iruka chased chuckling Kakashi out of the kitchen, chastising him for rearranging his cupboards – again!

"Just wondering which hits them first; the rumors or the realization."

Asuma's felt the corner of his eye twitch, itching to light a cigarette. "When either one does, I personally hope I'm out of the village at that time."

Gai, who in truth was one cunning bastard, only smirked wider.

Hours later Izumo hoarded drunken Kotetsu towards the door with Genma behind the duo. Asuma had slipped away earlier, ignoring the jabs of being a whipped man with a nonchalant shrug and thanking Iruka for the evening. Gai had soon followed him but not before challenging Kakashi into a one hand-stand match next morning, to which the silver-haired man had agreed half-heartedly. The green-clad – not the spandex suit, thankfully –jounin had bid his farewell and disappeared out into the night with a blinding smile that rivaled the stars on the sky.

Iruka, the good host he was, rose to see them off while Kakashi started to clean the mess and empty bottles. He and Genma chuckled as they watched the happily inebriated Kotetsu fight with his sandals while the exasperated Izumo rubbed his temple before deciding to give his friend a hand. Easier said than done, but eventually there was one happy shoe-wearing Kotetsu, one slightly harried Izumo and equally amused Iruka and Genma.

"See you in the afternoon," the spiky-haired chuunin chirped, listing to one side and with a huff Izumo reached to balance him.

"Good night," he said as the duo disappeared down on to the streets.

Genma merely nodded, the senbon glinting in the street light as the honey-haired man started towards his place.

Shaking his head, the scar-nosed man went back inside to find Kakashi lounging on the small couch that looked even tinier with the long-limbed jounin sprawled on it, staring at the ceiling. Iruka went to the kitchen, pleased to see the dirty dishes in neat piles in the sink and a quick look in the fridge revealed the leftovers in plastic boxes. Grabbing the bottle of water he kept in the cold, Iruka walked to the sofa and shoved the Kakashi's legs off, sitting down on the now free space. As soon as he did that, the legs were back, resting on the jean-clad thighs as the bony ankles lay crossed at the armrest

"Gai knows something," Kakashi said suddenly, the visible eye flickering to look at the other, stopping Iruka in the middle of sip.

"Huh?"

"There was this look on his eyes he gets, when he has information that usually has something to do with me," Kakashi explained, his words very close to a whine.

Iruka snorted, rolling his eyes. Even after witnessing it on several occasions, the sight of sulking Copy Nin never ceased to humor him. After several weeks as friends Iruka had become quite fluent at reading the masked man's expressions, so fluent that he could easily see across the room whether Kakashi was smiling, grimacing or, just like now, pouting.

"I'm sure your Eternal Rival will share his secrets with you tomorrow," Iruka commented dryly. He ignored the look of suspicion that was shot at him, drinking some of the nice cool water.

The dark-haired man had just gotten a mouthful, when Kakashi said it:

"So… I didn't realize you were a gay."

Only the perfectly honed reflexes saved Kakashi from getting a lukewarm shower as Iruka spit out the water. Iruka barely noticed him detangling legs or the rush of air as Kakashi disappeared and reappeared behind the couch.

"Maa, are you alright?" he asked, genuinely worried.

"Wh-what do you think?" Iruka hacked, glaring at the sheepish jounin, "and why the hell you are asking something like that?"

The half-lidded eye didn't widen or narrow but there was a definite change at those words. The flash of emotion was gone before Iruka truly registered it, too busy wiping his own eyes that had started to water. Kakashi shrugged slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. "It is quite clear that Fumiko-sensei was hoping for you to say yes to her invitation," he drawled calmly, "you do know that she has had a crush on you for some time now."

"Yeah, I do but that doesn't explain why you're asking am I a gay," Iruka snapped, pulling the now wet T-shirt off and stood up. Both of them were aware that he hadn't denied anything and in all honesty Iruka wasn't upset because of the question itself but what might have been the reason behind it.

"It doesn't matter," Kakashi finally admitted after trailing Iruka to the bathroom, where the younger man stuffed the shirt into the hamper, "I suspected but never really thought about it before tonight. But I don't care if you are one. It's not important."

Iruka glanced at the silver-haired jounin, reading his body language and what little could be revealed from the masked face. Kakashi knew Iruka could see that he was speaking the truth.

Because Kakashi was.

The jounin really didn't care if Iruka liked men or women or even both. It was really none of his business and besides he'd be quite hypocrite if he had something against gays.

"Good, I'd hate to kick your scrawny, close-minded ass," Iruka hummed thoughtfully, dark brown eyes sparkling mischievously when Kakashi started to laugh. "And since you once again violated my kitchen cupboards, you can go and make your futon ready as a punishment."

"What kind of host makes their guest do all the work?" Kakashi teased, grinning even as a bright yellow towel that had been named as his hit him squarely in the face.

"Guest? Kakashi, you stopped being a guest after sleeping five nights in a row at my floor. Sometimes I wonder if I should make you pay half of the rent, taking how much time you spent here."

"Then perhaps we should move together and live happily ever after, Iruka," he said teasingly, winking.

"Not until if you learn how to bake some apple pie," was Iruka's immediate reply, folding arms over his bare chest, smirking smugly, "and, no offense, Kakashi, your skills in the kitchen aren't that good."

"So the way to your heart goes through your stomach, eh? I guess I better start practicing then," Kakashi said thoughtfully, looking actually quite serious as he sauntered away.

Sighing, Iruka closed the door and for a moment he just stood there, forehead leaning against the cool surface. Thank you, Kakashi.

"You summoned me, Rat."

"Hatake-san's been acting oddly this morning, taichou."

"…"

"He's been standing there longer than usually. He came here at sunrise and hasn't moved since."

"I see. Has he drawn out Yondaime-sama's kunai?"

"No, taichou."

"Hmm…"

"Should we… inform Godaime-sama?"

"No. I don't think senpai's breaking. Not this time. Keep monitoring him and tell me immediately if this continues longer."

"Yes, taichou. Do you have any idea what the reason behind this might be?"

"I wonder…" … if it has something to do with Iruka-sensei.

"Stupid, irresponsible ninjas. Think they are immortal just because they know one healing jutsu. So what if you can heal a wound? What about the internal bleeding? It's not like I spent all those years of training for nothing."

"I guess you're talking about another case of desperate actions?"

"Yes... Sometimes I wonder why we bother lecturing them, since they always do it again."

"Can you hand me that file? Thank you. So who was it this time?"

"Patient from room 63M."

"Aah, that's Hatake-san, he's a prime example but the funny thing is, he's not the worst. Here's his personal file, you might read it to get a good perspective in what kind of conditions he might stumble in."

"That's his file? I thought it his clan's medical history!"

"…"

"Huh, this is interesting. Hatake-san visits have decreased in the past few months. Not that I'm complaining about it. The things this one has seen…" Torture, broken bones, burnt chakra paths and head trauma – as all in plural and spanning over two decades. It's a miracle he's still alive and mentally functioning.

"Oh, he finally has someone to come back."

"Really? Is that all it takes?"

"You're young and not all can be learned with Tsunade-sama. Did you see the chuunin waiting outside? The one with ponytail and old scalpel scar on his nose? He's Hatake-san's reason to come back in one piece."

"Are they together? "

"What is with the young people these days? Always thinking the worst… Make yourself useful and go fetch those blood tests from Asakura-san."

"But, but –"

"Now."

"You're a fucking idiot."

"Maa, don't you think you're being bit too harsh?"

The glare became so withering that Kakashi had to wonder why it hadn't already burnt holes in him. He felt the urge to squirm but was unable because of the chakra depletion. In fact, the only things Kakashi could do move were his head and wriggle his toes. He was also feeling little fuzzy but it was most likely from the blood loss, added to the pain medication.

"I made a little mistake, that's all," he dismissed, arching both of his eyes ever since his hitai-ate had been taken away hours ago, when Kakashi had been transported to the hospital. A surgical mask had been tied around his lower face, since the uniform shirt had been all but soaked in blood and the attached mask in shreds. "Although I do recommend never falling into thorn bushes from fifteen feet, there are scratches in places I thought to be impossible."

"Kakashi, you sealed a wound, ignoring the possibility of ruptured veins, which caused a large internal bleeding and the only reason you're lying there is that, that genin team found you – by accident," Iruka's icy voice informed matter-of-factly.

"I know," Kakashi murmured softly, sobering fast as he watched the emotions flitting in the dark eyes, "I'm sorry I made you worry."

That made the other slump, as if all the air had been knocked out of him. Sighing, Iruka rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Just, just think what you do next time, okay? I don't want to lose another friend."

"I will, Iruka," Kakashi promised, cursing his body for not being able to reach out and reassure the other. "Do you know when they'll release me?" he asked instead, hoping the change of topic would lighten the impact of this stupid near-death experience, "we were supposed to go see that play when I came back."

"I'm afraid we have to reschedule that," Iruka told with a wry smile, "the medics estimate it will take at least a week this time for you to be able to walk without crutches. They were actually little baffled."

The light chuckle that accompanied his remark made Kakashi smile inwardly even as he cocked one eyebrow. Even a dry smile was much better than frown on Iruka's face. "And why is that?"

"Well, it seems despite the fact that you acted stupidly, you really didn't use that much chakra," the dark-haired man shrugged his shoulders, "at least you're not immobile for two weeks this time. Maybe you've finally learned your lesson."

Now it was Kakashi's turn to frown at what Iruka just said. It was true; he had suffered from all kinds of chakra depletions ever since he had gotten the Sharingan, and this one was nowhere near the worst ones. The time Iruka was talking about had occurred almost five and half months ago, which had to be a record of sorts. Before that Kakashi had ended up in the hospital almost monthly and had usually been stuck in bed from ten to sixteen days. There was a reason for those "vacations", as Asuma had ironically named them, Kakashi was aware of it; he had been practicing the second level of his Sharingan and it had strained his body more than he had thought.

At least I've got some company now, Kakashi mused happily as he listened Iruka talk about the book he had started to read while the silver-haired man had been on a mission. Half a year ago we were barely friends. It's nice to have visitors who don't make fun of you or weep because your Springtime of Youth has suffered from being irresponsible. He made an effort to pout underneath the surgical mask, when Iruka teased about renaming the room as "Sharingan suite", since they always put him in there. Well, maybe the first part wasn't that true.

" – they even add an engraved nameplate on the door, and perhaps they should even give you your own, personal nurse. I'm sure there would be several volunteers, if we just asked. Especially some of the younger ones," Iruka was grinning now, the annoyance and worry gone and replaced by sudden playfulness.

"But Iruka, I don't want them; they just want to get a peek of my face," Kakashi whined, mentally blaming the medication for sounding like a petulant child, "can't you be my personal nurse?"

Silence fell between them, with Iruka staring wide-eyed at the slowly blushing jounin, who just now registered what he had said. Iruka looked as if he wasn't sure had Kakashi been serious or not. He then seemed to give himself a mental shake of sorts, because the impish grin came back.

"Please, Kakashi, that was pathetic," Iruka snorted, crossing his arms over his chest with, "that was nowhere near your usual level. How about this; now that you've been in an accident, could I be your blood donor?"

The silver-haired man blinked, mouth opening and closing couple of times, before resigning himself for a shrug as an answer. He chose not to question the reason behind the odd pressure in his chest, thinking it had something to do with the injuries and not the other's actions. "Can you look after Ukki-san for few more days?" Kakashi asked instead, shifting to ease the pressure.

"Sure," Iruka nodded, sobering quickly when there was no familiar reaction from Kakashi, hint of worry making its way on the expressive eyes. "Kakashi, is everything alright?"

"Maa, what makes you think that?" the silver-haired man asked back, highly aware how forced it sounded. The irrational pain and the lack of sleep were starting to wear him down with each passing second, making Kakashi feel far too short-tempered.

Iruka noticed this, too, and the look on his face was a combination caution and thoughtfulness, and he opened his mouth to say something, when Kakashi cut him in:

"I'm tired," he sighed, the unmarred eyelid falling close, a clear sign for the conversation to end now, before he or Iruka would say something stupid.

There was a moment of silence, before Iruka stood up with a rustle of clothes and squeak from the chair. "I'll let you get some rest then," his voice floated softly to Kakashi's ears, not revealing any hurt or other emotions – the chuunin knew how to mask them far better than people gave him credit for.

Kakashi made a grunt of sorts even as he strained to listen. If there was sound, Iruka wasn't as hurt as the jounin feared him to be, because Kakashi had found a way to measure just how upset Iruka was, and it wasn't by decibels, but how quiet he became. And one step at a time all the little sounds that the other man normally made disappeared.

By the time Iruka should have reached the door and close it, and the only reason Kakashi knew he was gone, was that the jounin heard nothing.

It was four days later when the door was opened for the first time by someone else than staff or Tsunade, and Kakashi turned from the window, the half-lidded eye staring indifferently at the newcomer, who merely raised an eyebrow.

"And hello to you, too," Asuma drawled, walking to the window, turning to lean his back against the window sill. The burly man gave a cursory look at the sitting one, who had turned his attention back to the scenery outside, the lone eye staring at one particular spot, before turning himself to stare at the opposite wall, where a painting of an old building hung.

Asuma knew from experience that if you tilted your head just the tiniest bit to the left, you could see the Academy's roof squeezed between the other buildings. It didn't take much of a genius what Kakashi was doing. They stayed like that, Kakashi staring out and Asuma at the painting.

"Is there something you want?" Kakashi finally asked, as they had stared at their respective subjects for at least ten minutes.

"No really, just came to check on you," Asuma hummed, following the outlines of the painted walls of Suna for the umpteenth time.

"No you didn't," the silver-haired man murmured, tugging absentmindedly the hem of his mask. The medics had given him one of those sleeveless shirts with attached mask this morning, like many times before. It made Kakashi wonder if they had them for everybody or just for him, since there was always one ready for Kakashi. "You're here because of Iruka," he continued softly.

"He's worried about you. That makes everybody worried about him. Kurenai wants to know if you two had a fight – Anko wants to know, which one she should "beat for making the sexy sensei depressed, that missing-nin or that bald balled monkey?". Her words, not mine."

"Anko?" Kakashi straightened, one eye brow rising, "she and Iruka aren't friends."

"I know, but it seems she doesn't like seeing Iruka troubled no less than the rest of those who work with him," the bearded man shrugged, "even my sister has been bullying me to find out why her son's teacher is so glum suddenly."

Kakashi winced in sympathy at the mention of Asuma's older sister, who had inherited their mother's way of thinking that women were stronger and made to endure pain. It thus gave her the so called the right to train the men in her family to suck it up or, like in this case, get information from Asuma.

"So, did you have a fight or not?"

Kakashi had to think about it for a moment. To say what was fight and what was not was really hard at best, since they hadn't really fought since that time at Chuunin exams. He did know how to read signs when Iruka had fought with someone – if Iruka was volatile, it wasn't serious, if he was silent, it was serious – and Kakashi fancied that Iruka could say the same when it came to the jounin.

But had they had a fight or was it just a sum of unfortunate mistakes? Or could it be solely blamed upon Kakashi's odd temper tantrum?

Honestly saying, Kakashi had no idea and he admitted it to Asuma without hesitation. He was just merely confused by all this, confused and slightly distressed, because Iruka had clearly been more affected by Kakashi's actions than he had wished for. Maybe he had been hoping that the reason behind Iruka's absence was because of some sort of sulking – it had happened but the dark-haired man had been avoiding Kotetsu, never Kakashi.

He didn't tell this to Asuma but the familiar glint Kakashi saw in his eyes told that the older jounin was aware there was something more there. But Asuma didn't say anything, to which Kakashi was thankful. It was already bad to see the veiled accusation. No reason to make it worse.

"What the hell was that?"

"That, Kiba, was the enraged bellow of Umino Iruka. I'm sure you're familiar with it from Academy."

"That was Iruka-sensei? But it came across the village!"

"From hospital, I believe. Kakashi must've finally grown some balls, none too soon, if you ask me."

"Huh, what do you mean by that, mom? Why would Kakashi-sensei make Iruka-sensei so, so…"

"Absolutely pissed off? Well, he just needed to clear the air and remind who the alpha in their pack is."

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"You're still a pup, Kiba. Sometimes you remind me of your father."

"Sheesh, mom, don't call me that."

"Make sure that brat is out of my sight when I have my hospital round, Shizune. If he can summon, then there's no need to keep his lazy ass occupying the bed."

"B-but, Tsunade-sama – "

"No buts! And the more, the merrier; here's a mission for Iruka-sensei to babysit Kakashi as a punishment. I don't want my mornings start like that ever again just because Kakashi doesn't have the sense to wait one day and decides to use ninken as messenger hawks so that he can clean his mess."

"I believe Iruka-sensei already made it clear that he didn't appreciate Kakashi-sensei's behavior either. The medics informed Kakashi-sensei being quite subdued when they fled, er, left them alone."

"Damn right he made. Almost lost my hearing because of that!"

"Before I go, here are some files that need to signed, Tsunade-sama."

"Alright, give me those then."

"…"

"…"

"My apologizes, Tsunade-sama, but have you heard the, um…"

"The rumors that they are in a relationship? Yes, why?"

"Oh, um, it's really not my place to say, but do you think there is any truth in them?"

"Shizune. I might be the goddamn Hokage of this village and even though it's my duty to know what my ninja do, there is a line I will not cross. It's their lives and as long as there isn't any fraternizing with the enemy, I don't care who goes out with whom."

"O-oh, I understand."

"Good, here are the files. Now go and drive that Hatake brat out of the bed and call Iruka-sensei there, too."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

Iruka couldn't decide whether he should tear Kakashi a new one or just be immensely relieved when Akino had appeared behind his bedroom window that morning, just five days after he had last seen Kakashi. But then the tawny dog had told Iruka that Kakashi wanted to meet him at the hospital, the former had won as soon as he had realized that Kakashi had used summoning jutsu – without being released.

Five days of worry, stress and bottled up anger had simply spilled over as Iruka tore his way through the village and to the "Sharingan suite", where the silver-haired jounin had had the decency to look quite startled, perhaps a little scared and very, very guilty when Iruka had started to yell at the top of his lungs how stupid and reckless Kakashi was. Iruka hadn't cared for the meek medics, who had slipped away as soon as the chuunin had stormed in, or the cringing, injured fellow ninja that were mercifully carted away, leaving the whole floor empty, save for the two men.

"Do you have anything to say, you idiot?" Iruka demanded, finally coming to the end of his window rattling rant, dark eyes blazing with irate fire, "do you? I sure as hell didn't come here just to yell at you!"

"I do," Kakashi murmured from where he stood, his visible eye firmly on the flushed chuunin like it had been from the very beginning. Taking a deep breath, Kakashi straightened from his usual slouch and determination replacing the guilt. "I'm sorry I acted like the way I did," he said at the still glowering Iruka, who only tensed at the reminder, "there's no excuse for my behavior; I was tired and took it on you. I shouldn't have done that, because you were only worried and – "

"Worried? Worried?" Iruka hissed, "try terrified. I came as soon as I heard about you, Kakashi, waited for three fucking hours when they operated you, wondering for god knows many times if this was it, if this was the mission that would finally kill you."

As Iruka spat those words out, Kakashi flinched as he saw just how scared the other had been. It made his insides twist and chest throb even worse than five days ago, but this time it wasn't because of what Iruka said, instead of what he showed.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi whispered hoarsely.

Iruka silenced and looked hard at the masked man, before deflating with a deep sigh, leaving him look suddenly worn out and tired. Kakashi became immediately alarmed and carefully made his way to Iruka, who just stood there. He made a small sound of surprise or defeat, it wasn't clear, in the back of his throat when Kakashi somewhat awkwardly wrapped arms around the chuunin, hugging Iruka gingerly.

"I'm sorry, Iruka," Kakashi repeated again, cursing the lack of words to tell just how much regret wallowed inside him, "I'll be more careful, if not for me, then for you."

It was the right thing to say, or at least close to. Iruka sagged and allowed his weight to rest against Kakashi's, fingers clinging into the dark shirt. "You better keep your word or I'll come after and kill you myself, Kakashi," his voice vibrated against the wide shoulder but there was little bite in it.

"I'll remember that," Kakashi hummed, letting a small smile to twist his lips, when Iruka muttered "you do that" before tightening his hold around the jounin.

It was roughly three hours later when a timid Shizune poke her head inside, relieved when she saw two men in the room. "Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei," she nodded and walked to the bed, "Tsunade-sama sent me to give a message for both of you."

"Good morning, Shizune-san," Iruka greeted politely, rising from the chair to bow while Kakashi simply nodded from the bed:

"Shizune-san."

"Tsunade-sama has ordered you to go home, Kakashi-sensei," she informed, earning surprised looks from both of them, and Iruka had to ask:

"Already? But the medics said he should stay a week here."

"Yes, they did, but since Kakashi-sensei managed to perform a summoning jutsu without, um, keeling over, he gets to be released early."

"Maa, I believe Shizune-san means Tsunade-sama got angry for my little stunt and has decided to kick me out for annoying her, am I right?" Kakashi drawled, giving a questioning look at the woman, who blushed a little but nodded.

"And she has ordered you to make sure Kakashi-sensei reaches safely his apartment, Iruka-sensei," she added with a small smile while reaching for the paperwork and signing them off, ignoring the blanching dark-haired man, "and you have also been ordered to guard him for at least the next 48 hours."

"W-what? Why?"

"Tsunade-sama wasn't very pleased about the disturbance this morning," she simply said, causing Iruka to flush and bury his face into his hands as he recalled just how loud he had been. "The substitute teacher has been informed, so you don't have to worry about anything. Please make sure to inform us if there's any need for it. Have a nice day, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei."

With that the Hokage's secretary slipped away, leaving the baffled and mortified Iruka alone again.

"Kakashi, be honest," Iruka muttered against his palms," how well can you move?"

"I can walk out of the hospital. Maybe. It took more chakra than I realized to call Akino," Kakashi told sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Iruka glared at him between the gaps of his fingers. "Of course, why did I even bother to ask?"

"Maa, we can rent a movie," the pale man grinned weakly, trying to lighten the atmosphere that had suddenly taken a nosedive.

Rolling his eyes, Iruka lowered his hands. "We'll have to go to my place, because Ukki-san is there and I'm not going to drag it back to your place if there's the chance for you doing it yourself," he informed, deadpanned, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"No complaints from me," Kakashi agreed, slowly standing up, "shall you do the honors, since technically I'm still a patient."

Snorting, the dark-haired chuunin stepped close and rounded his arms around Kakashi's chest. "You just want to get close and try to cop a feel."

"What can I say? It only takes one taste to get hooked," the jounin declared far too cheerily, his eyes curved into crescents, before Iruka teleported them away.

Kotetsu's eyes followed intensely Iruka's every single movement, finding the situation quite eerie.

Iruka was chipper.

That was the only word he could come up with to describe it the sudden, one-hundred-eighty degrees chance of mood. He was so damn happy that it raised some suspicions on its genuineness. The corner of Kotetsu's eye twitched as Iruka flashed yet another dazzling smile. He had been making those little eye blinding things for whole morning, as if Iruka was trying to fill up the missed quota from last week. Kotetsu' jaw didn't exactly drop on the floor but the twitch became worse, when Iruka all but flirted with Kaede-hime, the elderly noble giggling like a young girl with her first crush – she was so smitten that she hired a three man team to guard her granddaughter's engagement party, though.

He's finally gone mad,Kotetsu shook his head with a crooked grin. Whatever was behind this behavior, it had to have something to do with the fact that Kakashi had been seen enter Iruka's place and not leave until Sunday afternoon. Maybe they've finally figured out that half of the village is match-making them and Iruka tries to flirt his way out of it, the spiky-haired man played with the thought, before snorting quietly. Yeah right.

Waiting for Iruka to bid farewell to the flattered Kaede-hime, Kotetsu carefully leant closer. "Did something nice happen to you or is there some other reason for you to be so damn chipper?" he asked, genuinely curious. He didn't flinch when Iruka turned sharply and gave a hard look as the pleasant expression dropped, giving a way to a small scowl.

"Nothing 'nice' happened, thanks to a certain idiot," Iruka muttered, returning back to the scroll where he worked out the details for Kaede-hime's mission, "because of him, I lost some work hours and the "pay" I got from that so called mission didn't even cover those movies we rented."

Folding his arms over his chest, Kotetsu rolled his eyes. "Well, Godaime-sama doesn't really like to be awakened like that after spending the night out. I think that my own ears are still ringing and I had a guard duty all they way at the edge of the village."

Groaning under his breath Iruka rubbed tiredly his temples. "I know, I know, but I was just so damn angry at him," Iruka mumbled.

"It's nice to see you two are good again, though," Kotetsu commented abruptly with quite serious voice and a quick glance showed a baffled Iruka, "you were making a good imitation of a kicked puppy, Iruka, don't deny it. And they say Kakashi-sensei wasn't cheerful either. He's not the most emotional person, so he must have been feeling quite bad to actually show it."

Iruka's eyes narrowed at first but they widened as the other continued, but he had no chance to say anything back when a new group of expensively dressed couriers floated in, effectively gaining their attention. But, as the time passed on, Kotetsu noticed a thoughtful look cross every now and then Iruka's face.

When Kotetsu's shift came to an end, he glanced out of the window and saw a familiar figure loitering at the rooftop across the street. Grinning, he wondered if he should tell Iruka about it but decided against it. As he walked on the corridor, Kotetsu passed two young women and heard them whisper:

"Did you see what I see? Hatake-san was staring at the Mission Room – "

"What did you do?"

"… Nothing?"

"Don't play innocent, Hagane, I know it was you. Now tell me what the hell did you say to Iruka?"

"Whoa, whoa, don't point with that thing or somebody's going to lose an eye."

"Among other things if you don't start talking. What. Did. You. Say?"

"Care to elaborate, otherwise all I can say is nothing. Which clearly is the wrong answer – please, put the kunai away."

"Yesterday. You two were at the same shift. He came back troubled and the others claim having no idea why and I actually believe them. That leaves only you, Hagane."

"Oh you mean that? I didn't say anything, really. He was all happy and then we talked about things, like about your fight and – oh… Damn."

"What?"

"They were right. Shit, they were right!"

"Damnit, Hagane, what are you babbling about?"

"Excuse me, Asuma-sensei, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, don't mind if I smoke?"

"No no, please feel free."

"…"

"…"

"So, what's in your mind? You didn't come to watch me smoke."

"Did you have a hand in that Kakashi managed to get his head out of his ass?"

"Maybe."

"Thank you for that."

"You're welcome but that's not the reason for you're here, just to thank me."

"No."

"What is it then?"

"I know."

"…"Well, that was unexpected.

"I know what they say about us; have known since Kakashi kicked me out of his room."

"I see. What about Kakashi?"

"He doesn't. Maybe. I don't know. He hasn't indicated but this is Kakashi. He doesn't listen to any gossips as long as nobody tries to get his Icha Icha or look underneath his mask. That's the reason we're even friends, he doesn't care."

"Maa, that sounds like him. You never really know what's underneath his underneath."

"You are quite right."

"Are you going to do something about the rumors?"

"I don't know. Not yet, that is. They are not right but they are not harmful. At least it seems to think so, since there's no angry mob demanding to resign from Academy or my door hasn't been flattened and a certain someone isn't here to defend my honor."

"Naruto?"

"I never saw that woman – she was a civilian from the market street – ever again. It seems she didn't appreciate her date having an overprotective Kyuubi vessel as some sort of honor guard. Weird, huh?"

"Weird, indeed. … You aren't really against them, are you?"

"Not really. It would be… nice if they were real. He's a good friend and I imagine he would be a good lover, too. People often forget that underneath all that mystery and fame he's just another man, who in the end deserves to have something better in his life than mindless fans."

"You don't love him."

"Of course not but I like him. There's a difference, I know, but Kakashi doesn't love me either."

"True. Then what is your plan? Tell him?"

"No. Maybe. If he asks."

"He won't."

"No, I suppose he won't."

"Want one?"

"Sure, why not. It's not every day you realize having non-platonic feelings for your best friend. The chance at getting a lung cancer on top of that is even more unlikely."

"Truer words have never been spoken."

They skirted around each other for several days, pulling and pushing the subject back and forth between them. They knew it was there, the lump of something they both were hesitant to acknowledge. Outsiders saw no change in their actions and those who where more closer with the men did but only few hints that something was off but not enough to really get worried – that, or they stayed respectfully quiet.

When it became three weeks, the tension snapped:

"We need to talk, Iruka."

The said man froze hands underwater and he stared at the sink. Trust Kakashi to pick the most inappropriate moment for Iruka to stop beating around the bush.

"I know," he sighed, picking the dish brush and started again, "help me finish these first, okay?"

"Fine," he agreed with a nod.

Despite his madly beating heart, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder how they managed to do something so mundane like washing dishes, when the next moments could easily change forever their friendship. Smiling wryly underneath his mask, Kakashi mused how this was one of the many things Kakashi liked on Iruka; the fact that he made Kakashi feel and enjoy normality.

When they were finished, Iruka spent watching the water drain, gathering his thoughts with a deep breath. "Shall we sit down or do you want to stand?" he asked, turning around.

"I'm good," Kakashi said, leaning against the cupboard, leaving Iruka no choice but to stand in front of him.

"Alright. I'm guessing you want to talk about those rumors and what they say about you and me."

The masked man nodded, the visible eye riddled with quickly flitting emotions Iruka didn't really want to identify, not now. "How long have you known?" Kakashi asked quietly.

"Month or so, I'm not sure," Iruka admitted, shrugging nonchalantly, "I accidentally heard some of the nurses to gossip about it when I left and suddenly all I could hear was us."

"Us," Kakashi repeated, more thoughtful than displeasured, "you're not insulted that they make you my lover?"

The question was not the one Iruka had predicted, catching him so off guard that his mouth actually fell open. "What? No! I mean, I don't understand, what do you mean?" he demanded to know, aghast.

Kakashi gave a miniscule shrug, not looking at the chuunin in the eye. "People might think you deserve better than some half-blind and half-mad jounin, who most likely dies before the age of thirty," he murmured levelly but the pale fingers were digging into the counters edge, belying the calmness.

"That's bullshit," Iruka barked furiously, making Kakashi's face snap back at him so fast it nearly gave him a whip-lash. "You might be half-mad and if you keep up with that idiotic behavior of yours, you will die before you're thirty," he snarled, dark eyes narrowed into slits, "but you're not a bad person and anybody would be lucky to have you as a partner, you hear me? Anybody!"

Kakashi blinked and the pressure in his chest eased notches at Iruka's words, the somewhat questionable praise heating his face beneath the mask.

"And as for your question, no, I don't feel insulted at being your "lover" but what about you? Does it make you feel ashamed that they think you have a relationship with a man?" he growled heatedly, openly challenging the silver-haired man to agree with him.

Kakashi's eye widened and he frantically shook his head.

"No, I don't. I'm not actually sure how to feel about this," he told truthfully, relieved when Iruka calmed enough into a dark scowl. "You're a good friend, more than anyone has ever been to me and when we had our fight, I regretted my actions far more than in years. It just that I don't hate idea of being in a relationship with you but – "

"You're not interested in me that way," Iruka ended softly and in that instant the sizzling flames anger reduced into ashes, leaving him surprisingly sadder than Iruka had expected to be.

"No," Kakashi corrected firmly, straightening his stance unconsciously, "don't jump into conclusions, either, Iruka. This is more complicated than "I don't like you in that way"; I'm not against it, should it happen."

That froze Iruka on the spot, eyes wide and a simple "oh," was all the dark-haired man could only say at that moment.

"Yes, oh," the other chuckled, shaking his head, "this may have started because of others but it's really up to us if we continue it."

"Us, eh?" Iruka couldn't help the little grin, playing in the corner of his lips as he tasted the word in his mouth."So, what you're saying is that you don't mind giving us a try?" he asked, sounding only a little hesitant but Kakashi could still pick it.

"Yes," Kakashi smiled back, pushing away from the cupboard and coming to stand right in front of Iruka, leaving at least half a foot between them, "and you? Do you want to try and see what might happen?"

The grin turned mischievous and Iruka cocked an eyebrow, daring. "I don't know, do you think I might finally get to see under that damned mask of yours if I say yes?" he teased, poking Kakashi playfully in the chest.

"Maybe," was the answer, earning an indignant snort from the other. "Keep that up and you have to learn to enjoy the taste of fabric," Kakashi drawled jokingly before making the bold decision and bent to close the distance.

"Wha - ?" Iruka gasped when something smooth and slightly damp touched his nose, nuzzling and the chuunin got the impression of a newborn pup being touched by a pack member; eager and gentle but also a little awkward, too.

It was over as fast as it started, leaving Iruka slightly lightheaded and already missing the warmth as Kakashi took a step back, watching carefully for his reaction. Knowing this was most likely the crucial point in this tentative relationship of theirs, Iruka quickly collected himself and summoned a shy smile. "I can live with that," he hummed, smiling wider when Kakashi visibly relaxed in front of him.

"How about watching that movie now? I can make the popcorn," the jounin offered, falling in to the usual pattern, and for that Iruka felt grateful.

They could talk later, needed to, but for now it was good to do something familiar. And when Kakashi sat next to Iruka and not on his usual spot on the floor, the other didn't question it, only asked if he was comfortable. In turn, when Iruka slowly moved close enough that their thighs were touching, Kakashi hummed and gave a quick lean back, before returning his attention on the Iruka-track, laughing silently as the snarky remarks turned the crappy movie ten times better.

Three months later…

"What the hell? What happened to you? You look like a drowned rat!"

"My apartment building was flooded, that happened to me."

"Flooded?"

"It seems one of my neighbors had a fire of sorts and what's the most natural way to put it out?"

"You're kidding. Tell me you're kidding."

"Nope. A water jutsu. Never seen my floor so sparkling clean, though. But then again, all my stuff was swallowed by the wave. Although it was nothing compared to Mitarashi-san's scream of outrage – almost shattered the whatever windows that were left unbroken."

"Shit. Where are you staying?"

"I was kind of hoping that…"

"… Fine, why not. At least you don't extinguish fires with water jutsus."

"Of course not, don't be a stupid. I'll use an earth jutsu."

"…"

"You never guess what Iruka-sensei received today at lunch."

"Oh, do tell me? Was it anything scandalizing?"

"A soggy, burned apple pie."

"You're joking?"

"About Iruka-sensei? Never."

"But how a pie can be both soggy and burned at the same time?"

"Beats me but I know what I saw. He was quite astonished, I tell you. Then he blushed, the brightest shade of red I've ever seen him do, and rushed out. With the pie. And he was smiling like a crazy!"

"Now that's odd."

"I couldn't agree more. Anyway, have you heard about Genma-san? Rumor has it – "

THE END